July 29, 2012 9:57pm EDTJuly 29, 2012 8:05pm EDTZach Greinke is solid in his debut, even though the Los Angeles Angels are shutout, 2-0, for a major league-leading 11th time. Still, the Angels are strong contenders who give Greinke a shot at postseason redemption.

ANAHEIM – Last October and the final two months of this season are exactly the reasons for Zack Greinke's crime against the clubhouse.

When Greinke quit on the Kansas City Royals in 2010 – yes, he quit and there’s no other way to describe it – it was because he wanted to play for something significant. He wanted to chase championships in the fall, not live in the cellar for entire summers.

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Greinke eventually was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, and they gave him that opportunity last fall. The former Cy Young Award winner was a nervous mess, going 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA and 1.620 WHIP in three postseason starts.

The Brewers fell out of contention this summer and traded Greinke to the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, giving him a second chance to somewhat justify his odd and disrespectful behavior in Kansas City. The Angels are a serious contender, and Greinke makes them extremely dangerous.

Of course, that’s assuming they can find a way to stop being shutout. Greinke and the Angels lost, 2-0, to the Tampa Bay Rays and a spot-on Jeremy Hellickson on Sunday as the Halos were shutout for a major league-leading 11th time (tied with Oakland), for the second consecutive game and for the 23rd consecutive inning.

Even with the loss, the outing was what the Angels are hoping for from Greinke's next dozen starts. He'll take the ball 12 times from now until the end of the regular season, assuming he goes every fifth game. Greinke, without much defensive help from a usually solid group, pitched seven innings and allowed two earned runs on eight hits, struck out eight and walked one.

One of those runs was the result of a double that fell in because of a defensive miscue. The other came on a wild pitch. Even with those mistakes, on a day when the offense isn’t completely shutdown, that’s almost assuredly a deserved win for Greinke.

“I thought Zack pitched a terrific ballgame and definitely gave us a chance to win,” Angel manager Mike Scioscia said. “For the most part, he had terrific command of his fastball, a good cutter, a good curveball and showed great poise. Unfortunately, he was pitching with his back against the wall for most of the game.”

That was true Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium, but his acquisition helps alleviate pressure over these final two months of the regular season.

We’re not going to assume Ervin Santana is going to go from awful to great over the next two months, but let’s assume Dan Haren is healthy. If that is the case – and it seems it is – then the Angels have four legitimate arms that can claim front-line status as starters, important for a team prone to some ugly offensive slumps. Of that quartet, Greinke has the best raw stuff.

“I don’t think that’s a secret,” said an American League scout who recently watched Greinke for another team. “He’s got some of the best weapons in the big leagues, and we’ve seen the kind of pitcher he can be when he’s motivated. Even though he’s just a rental for now, it’s a great pick-up.”

It also shows that Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto has not relented on his championship aspirations. He sat at the big-boy table during the winter meetings to nab Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. He was a predator at the trade deadline to get Greinke, and at the same time keep him away from the rival Texas Rangers.

The Rangers lack a true No. 1 starter, a guy they actually want to start a Game 1 or Game 7 in the playoffs. Injuries have smacked up their rotation and made them desperate for a pitcher before Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline, and Greinke was the guy they were zeroing in on until Dipoto became willing to part with three of the organization’s top-10 prospects to swipe him away.

Like the Wilson signing, Dipoto made his roster stronger while weakening the chief rival and the team ahead of them in the AL West. You’ve got to love that kind of shrewd maneuvering.

The trade also gives Greinke, who declines to discuss how he departed Kansas City, a golden opportunity at redemption. He forced his way out of a Royals uniform and looked like a victim of bad karma when he didn’t produce last October. What goes around comes around.

This season, if he helps the Angels make the playoffs and leads the Angels to a World Series, he’ll be an Orange County hero.